Little Orphan Anvil: The Complete Trilogy by Joseph Beekman (good beach reads .txt) 📗

caught in Tabitha’swaves of spirited, magical energy. It swept invisiblyinto their souls, causing them to stumble and moveawkwardly about. Some of the spiders turned around,moving back up the wall; while others remained put,their balloon-bloated bodies juggling and swishingabout.

Suddenly Tabitha heard a loud snap followed bya terrified shriek. Losing her sense of focus, sheopened her eyes and turned towards the boys.

She gasped, seeing that Haley was dangling inthe air by a strand of the web! An iron clamp from hisbreathing headgear had somehow snagged on the pieceof web strand that they had been burning through; thestrand was now being stretched like a thin wire from theweight of Haley’s body.

Jonathon was crouched down, balancing aboveHaley on a larger piece of web strand; he was trying toreach him by grasping for one of his flailing arms.

“Haley!” Jonathon shouted. “Hold still and grabmy hand!”

By now the spiders had regained their sense ofpurpose. Tabitha’s spell had vanished when she wasdisrupted, and they no longer had a fear of the threestragglers in their great web. They were movingforward again towards the frantic boys.

Oh no! Tabitha thought fearfully. My spell—itvanished!

Sensing Tabitha’s own fear, the spiders picked uptheir pace, turning fast towards her, as well.

Okay, time for some new magic, she told herself.I can do this, I know I can—I have too! Just need toconcentrate and remain one within my own spirit…

She took a deep breath and slipped back insideher soul, seeking that calm place deep within; the sameplace she had always had vivid dreams about ever sinceshe was very little. It was a springtime kingdom ofgardens filled with green fields and forests…and wild,beautiful butterflies.

Jonathon grabbed hold of Haley’s hand andbegan pulling him up. Then, from the corner of his eye,he saw something strike next to his feet. Glancingdown, he saw a thin strand of web falling lightly downupon the strand of web where he stood. Looking backover his shoulder he saw three of the spiders coming upfast behind him; one had the falling web strand stillattached to it’s underbelly.

They’re shooting their webs at us! he thoughtalarmingly. They mean to wrap our bodies up as if wewere just simple house flies!

Another spider had lifted itself up, rearing itselfback on its legs. It shot forth a piece of web strand thatstruck Haley’s left ankle, coiling tightly around it.Haley screamed out, startling Jonathon, who let go ofhis hand.

Haley fell from the web, pulling the spider downwith him by its own web line. Jonathon staredhelplessly as Haley and the spider plummeted downinto the abyss, and the river far below.

Jonathon immediately snatched the welding torchthat lay at his feet and swiftly spun around; he wascareful not to move too much, for fear of getting stuckin another part of the web. There in front of him wasanother spider, its body raised up and ready to attack.Just as it fired a web line, Jonathon ducked out of theway allowing the line to pass right over his head.

With the torch in his hand, he blasted a fiery blueflame into the spider’s underbelly. The spider let out anawful hiss and fell backwards, colliding into a fewothers. They jumped out of the way in a frightful fit.

Waving the flame of the torch back and forth infront of the spiders, Jonathon watched as they movedback a bit, unsure of the threat of the blue fire. He thenshouted loudly for Tabitha. When he didn’t hear herreply, he looked over to where she was supposed tobe—his heart sank when he saw that she was nowhereto be seen.

But then he saw something rather strange thatcaused him to squint his eyes in wonder: it was afigure, the same size as Tabitha, and it was movingabout. However, the figure was in the same form andimage as one of the giant strand’s of the web—as if theweb itself had come to life! The figure was closing inon Jonathon, moving fluidly in a ghostly nature.

What in the spirits below is that? Jonathonthought. Tabitha…could it be?

He stood there, spellbound by the movement ofthe web-like image, when suddenly he heard Tabitha’svoice call out to him: “Jonathon! It’s me—Tabitha!”

Jonathon felt relieved, realizing instantly thatTabitha must have used some form of magic uponherself, a magic she had learned back home. Tabithahad actually created an image of the web itself—or atleast the image of the actual spot of the web where shehad been stuck—she had cast the image around herselflike a mirrored reflection!

“Damnation, Tabitha—you are one crazy girl!”he shouted towards her, shaking his head. “What afantastic display of sorcery! You’re reflecting the webitself wherever you move—just like a mirror!”

“That’s right! They can’t even see me here!” shesaid. “Wish I could find a way to use it on you, too!”

The web started swaying, causing Jonathon toalmost lose his balance. “Whoa!”

He turned his attention towards the spiders; theyhad regrouped and were starting back towards him,their fear of the torch flame subsiding slightly.

“Listen—we gotta get off this web, right now!Haley has already fallen, and those spiders are reallyangry!”

“I’m on my way over!” Tabitha yelled, her voiceincreasing the closer she moved towards him. “Anddon’t worry about Haley; we’ll catch up to him!”

The spiders began viciously firing their web linesat Jonathon. He had to keep ducking and swerving hisbody all over the place to avoid getting hit; but he darednot step away from where he stood for fear of gettingstuck on another part of the web. There were spidersthat were firing from the holes in the canyon walls, too!

“Okay, stay put!” Tabitha shouted. “I’m almostto you; then we’ll both jump off this mess together!”

She was stepping carefully along the thick webstrands, balancing herself with her arms outstretched asthe web continued to sway up and down with the increasing weight of the spiders clamoring over it. Herboots were sticking with each step, stretching anddragging pieces of the gummy web underneath them.

As she became more in tune with the outsideworld than within her own spell-like trance, her